The Laos–Myanmar border is the international border between the territory of

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(formerly ''Burma''). The border is 238 km (148 mi) in length and runs entirely along the

Mekong river The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

from the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the north to the tripoint with

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in the south.

Description

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with China at the confluence of the Nanla river with the Mekong, and then proceeds in a south-westerly direction down to the tripoint with Thailand at the confluence with the

Kok River The Kok River (, , ; , ) is a tributary river of the Mekong that flows in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces in northern Thailand. Source The river originates in the Daen Lao Range, Shan State, Myanmar. It flows eastwards across the Myanmar ...

, save for an eastwards protrusion of the Mekong about halfway along the frontier.

History

The Mekong has historically served as a natural frontier between various kingdoms and people groups in the region. Its use as the modern boundary between Laos and Myanmar stems from the colonial period in the 19th century. From the 1860s

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

began establishing a presence in the region, initially in modern

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, and the colony of

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

was created in 1887. Laos was then added to the colony in 1893 following the

Franco-Siamese crisis The Franco-Siamese crisis of 1893, known in Thailand as the Incident of Rattanakosin Era 112 (, , ) was a conflict between the French Third Republic and the Kingdom of Siam. Auguste Pavie, French vice-consul in Luang Prabang in 1886, was the c ...

. Meanwhile Britain began occupying Myanmar (then referred to as Burma), gradually incorporating it into

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. On 15 January 1896 Britain and France agreed that the boundary between their two colonies would run along the Mekong. In 1941, following

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's invasion of Burma, parts of Burma were ceded to Siam as the

Saharat Thai Doem ''Saharat Thai Doem'' () was an administrative division of Thailand. It encompassed parts of the Shan States of British Burma annexed by the Thai government after the Japanese conquest of Burma. By means of this annexation, Axis powers, Axis-a ...

territory, thereby ending the existence of the Laos-Myanmar boundary, however these areas were returned to Burma in 1946 following Japan's defeat and the boundary restored. In 1937 Burma had been separated from India and became a separate British colony, gaining full independence in 1948. Laos obtained a partial independence from France in 1949, gaining complete independence in 1953, with the boundary then becoming one between two sovereign states. The border region became unstable in the subsequent decades, with various armed groups operating here, such as the Chinese

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

Pathet Lao The Pathet Lao (), officially the Lao People's Liberation Army, was a communist political movement and political organization, organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group ultimately gained control over the entire country of ...

and various Shan militias. The border is nowadays more peaceful - a joint demarcation survey of the border was conducted in June 1993, and a Friendship Bridge across it was built in 2015.

Border crossings

There is one main crossing at the Friendship Bridge at Wan Pong-Kyainglap, linking Xieng Kok in Laos with Kyainglap in Myanmar, which opened on 20 November 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laos-Myanmar border

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

Borders of Laos Borders of Myanmar International borders

Description

History

Border crossings

See also

References